When it comes to modified country music that registers as pop while remaining accessible to the audience for mainstream country, singer and songwriter Megan Moroney’s albums mark a high point in the genre. Moroney, who grew up in Douglasville, Ga., before moving to Nashville in 2020, subverts country’s confessional tendencies into humor. Moroney sings about romance, and she and her team of co-writers provide plenty of musical and verbal detail on her latest album, Cloud 9, which was released in February. Like, say, Rosanne Cash or Miranda Lambert, Moroney isn’t afraid to be pop, which means Cloud 9 brims with the kind of details that function as hooks. Cloud 9 is addictive — your favorite track might be “6 Months Later,” which evokes power pop, or maybe it’s “Wedding Dress,” a tune that transcends the singer-songwriter genre even as it tweaks its conventions. In short, Moroney — aided by a crew of like-minded collaborators — achieves true Nashville pop nirvana on Cloud 9, complete with tricky musical turns and aphoristic lyrics. I also like her earlier records — check out the Celtic-country stomp of “Keep the Flowers,” a standout track from her 2022 EP Pistol Made of Roses. Friday at Bridgestone Arena, Moroney gets support from JP Saxe and Solon Holt.
7 p.m. at Bridgestone Arena
501 Broadway
